“Sauer’s terse text, presented as the steps in the care manual for the lion, are tongue-in-cheek smile-inducing, as are accompanying black-and-white diagrams from the manual. However, their interaction with Cummings’ full-color, digitally created illustrations of a light-brown–skinned child and the full-grown male lion that was delivered instead of a kitten are laugh-out-loud fun. Allow plenty of time to giggle over the details.”

Today, Troy is joining us from the wilds of Indiana.

This, by the way, is Troy’s self-portrait:

Welcome to Picture Book Builders, Troy!

Helloooooo, Tammi! Thank you.

What drew you to this manuscript? Were you worried I’d send a lion to your house if you said no?

Yes. I get together with illustrators all the time for coffee, where we swap stories about the kinds of critters Tammi Sauer will send after us if we say “no” to one her manuscripts. (Sharks, chipmunks, ducks, aliens, rock-and-roll-roosters, cave boys and skateboarding princesses. To name a few.)

ALSO: what really drew me to your manuscript was your humor. I love how you wrote the story in the chipper, yet bone-dry tone of an instruction manual. I knew immediately it would be so fun to try to draw pictures that showed things working out not-quite-as-well as the pet-care instructions led us to believe. (And I genuinely laughed out loud –actually, snorted out loud– when I read your joke about the pizza guy. Oh, man.)

These are some of the early cover sketches:

Can you share a little bit about your process?

I always start out by doodling… I read the manuscript, and just sketch whatever comes to mind. I try to organize my doodles into story “beats”, and look for page turns.

This part — finding the page turns– is super-important! … it’s always a nice feeling to have the narrator ask a question or set up a joke, and then turn the page to find the punchline or be surprised. (I’m basically trying not to step on your toes at this point, but to support where I think you’re headed with each page.)

Then I sketch tighter drawings for each spread, scan ‘em in, and move to color. I’ll block in loose, flat shapes of color, and then add textures and details in Photoshop.

If you had one key piece of advice for illustrators, what would it be?

Try to draw with kids as often as you can. And draw fast and sloppy. If you worry about trying to get it PERFECT, you’ll never finish. At least, I won’t. (Oops. That’s like two or three key pieces of advice.)

Scoop time! What’s next for you?

I’ve just finished writing the 13th, and final book in my NOTEBOOK OF DOOM series, titled BATTLE OF THE BOSS-MONSTER. All I have to do now is draw the pictures. : ^ )

Troy, thanks so much for stopping by Picture Book Builders. And a huuuuuuge thank you for illustrating CARING FOR YOUR LION!

Troy Cummings has been a writer, illustrator, janitor, and swim-team manager, but has never been a lion-tamer. Until now. He’s written and/or illustrated a whole pride of kids books, including THE NOTEBOOK OF DOOM, LITTLE RED GLIDING HOOD (w/ Tara Lazar), MIGHTY TRUCK (with Chris Barton), and THE EENSY WEENSY SPIDER FREAKS OUT. He lives in Indiana with his wife and their hungry, roaring, shaggy-maned kids.

Congratulations to Elizabeth Curry! She won a signed copy of VAMPIRINA AT THE BEACH.

Tammi Sauer

Tammi Sauer is a former teacher and library media specialist. She has sold 29 picture books to major publishing houses. In addition to winning awards, her books have gone on to do great things. Mostly Monsterly was selected for the 2012 Cheerios Spoonfuls of Stories program. Me Want Pet! was recently released in French which makes her feel extra fancy. And Nugget and Fang, along with Tammi herself, appeared on the Spring 2015 Scholastic Book Fair DVD which was seen by millions kids across the nation.

Her latest books include I LOVE CAKE! and Ginny Louise and the School Field Day.

Great post, Tammi, congratulations to you both! So interesting to get a peek at Troy’s process. I loved seeing the cover sketches! Can’t wait to share this one with kids. And I think it needs a sequel . . .